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The Seattle Eastside Condo Market Was Great in February, 2012
If you have a condo to sell on Seattle’s eastside, now is a great time to put it on the market. If you’ve hoped to move and have felt as if you couldn’t do so over the last few years, things are different now. Competition among sellers has dropped dramatically, because there are so few condos for sale. There were only 723 condos for sale in all the eastside cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Woodinville, Issaquah, etc. Just a few years ago, there were twice as many condos for sale.
Prices are not going to go back up any time and, more than likely, will no longer continue to drop. If your condo is underwater and/or you can’t or don’t want to sell because you’re taking a huge loss, that’s unfortunate. But for those who have contemplated a move up or out of the area, this is the best time to put your condo on the market in the last 5 years.
If you’re a buyer, condos haven’t been this affordable for about 6-7 years, so it’s a great time to buy. Most real estate gurus and economists think we’re at the bottom of the market. The situation varies dramatically in different parts of the country. Seattle is one of the bright spots in the economy, so our market is doing well. If you’re waiting for prices to go down even more, it doesn’t sound like that will happen, particularly in the Seattle area. We’ve been hit over the head with this fact since so many of the condos and homes are now selling with multiple offers. As soon as that happens, we know we were at bottom.
Last month, 25% of all the condos on the market sold. Condos sold, on average, within 89% of the original asking price.
How Was The Seattle Eastside Condo Market in January 2012?
The Seattle-Eastside condo real estate market in the cities of Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, etc was even better in January than December of last year. This is not terribly surprising. When the calendar rolls around to a new year, buyers minds turn to real estate and home buying.
The number of condos for sale on the eastside was almost the same as in December. However, 31 more condos sold in January than in December. Interestingly, there were 247 new listings, but with the number of sales happening and other condos coming off the market, the supply has remained static. The demand has been far greater. The well priced and well maintained condos are selling as fast as they are coming up on the market.
Ironically, 20% fewer condos were on the market in January than a year ago.
As I’ve mentioned before, expect this year’s condo real estate market to be the strongest we’ve had for sales in 5 years. In January, 20% of the available condos sold which is equal to the highest percentage of sales in July of last year. Condos were on the market an average of 133 days and sold within 89% of their original asking price. Surprisingly, the median price dropped from $235,000 last year to $168,000 this year.
I truly think this only represents the fact that the majority of condos that sold in January happened to be less expensive than those that sold last January. I don’t think prices have dropped that much. I look forward to seeing the price point for condo sales when we have February’s statistics available. So don’t give up hope just yet. Prices are down for everyone, whether it’s a house or condo, but it may not be as bad as January’s median pricing suggests.
As we’ve mentioned before, expect this year’s condo real estate market to be the strongest we’ve had for sales in 5 years. The lack of supply should help to spur the market on. Happy condo hunting!
